The Patriot Post® · Thursday Short Cuts

Insight: “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” —Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

Upright: “For centuries, open political dialogue has served as a foundation for stability and progress in America. We must listen to each other in order to understand each other’s grievances and solve common problems. Without dialogue, there can be no conflict resolution. In this sense, what Big Tech has done in the name of combating ‘violence’ is only destined to produce more of it.” —Jeff Brain

Faith and family: “I don’t think our young people are avoiding marriage and children because of concerns about financial security. I think they are avoiding marriage and children because they don’t want marriage and children. … The collapse of marriage, family and the national birthrate is the result of the secularization of our culture. Faith and values have been displaced by materialism and egotism. How do we turn it around? As a starter, let’s have more parental choice in education so parents can get their children out of public schools and into religious schools, where they can learn values that sustain life.” —Star Parker

Observations: “[The Colonial Pipeline attack] is just the latest in a series of cyber terrorism attacks against American infrastructure. Some cyberattacks have been launched from North Korea. Others from communist China and Iran. This one appears to have come from Russia. … That brings me to another attack on a pipeline vital to America’s economic and national security. Sadly, that attack was successful. The pipeline was shut down. Thousands of Americans lost their jobs, and we became more vulnerable to attacks like the one against the Colonial Pipeline. Of course, I’m talking about the Keystone XL Pipeline coming from Canada. It wasn’t attacked by Russian hackers, but Joe Biden just hours after he took office. The Colonial Pipeline can fight back against Russian hackers. The Keystone Pipeline couldn’t fight back against a president who foolishly declared war on our energy industry.” —Gary Bauer

For the record: “President Biden had it easy. All he had to do was nothing. He could expect a new era of good feelings emerging from a tumultuous time. He could expect a booming economy, a more peaceful Middle East, a solution to the pandemic. All he had to do was calm the waters. This, after all, was what Americans voted for: not a transformational figure or a figure of radical change but a stodgy, supposedly empathetic grandfather figure who could barely be bothered to leave his basement for the entirety of the presidential campaign. Normalcy could be restored by installing a nearly inanimate object as president. Instead, Biden has served as a facade for the most radical administration in modern American history. And America is already paying the price.” —Ben Shapiro

No kidding: “Our country going to [crap] is what happens when you elect a guy who hasn’t accomplished anything in his life. Being in government your entire career is not a real job.” —Lisa Boothe

And last… “Highest gas prices since 2014. Worst conflict in Israel since 2014. Obama’s third term is going exactly as planned.” —Elijah Schaffer